This invention relates to a low tire sensing and weight transfer system for use with a trailer or truck.
A copending patent application of the present inventor filed of even date herewith (which said copending application claims the benefit of Provisional patent application No. 60/099,195 filed Sep. 4, 1998) describes a transport vehicle, such as a trailer, having a mechanism for lowering the rear portion of the cargo deck thereof to facilitate loading cargo, such as a motorized vehicle. The entire contents of said copending application are hereby incorporated by reference.
The vehicle cargo deck lowering mechanism of said copending application comprises a running gear consisting of a single axle rotatably attached to the deck frame, an axle drop attached to both ends of the axle, walking beams attached to the axle drops, and two pneumatic tires attached to each walking beam by axle stubs or spindles.
If one of the pneumatic tires of a tandem set becomes low during operation of the transport vehicle, undue wear quickly occurs in that tire. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a low tire sensing device to enable the vehicle operator to quickly detect the low tire situation and take steps to correct it.
It would also be desirable to relieve the forces causing undue wear on the low tire until such time as it can be safely repaired or replaced.